12:05 — Here in Washington, sequestration – the mandatory budget cuts which are scheduled to go into effect March 1st — is a really big deal. There is little question that it will hammer an already-fragile economic recovery. Government contractors, particularly defense companies, are preemptively laying off workers, and the Pentagon and other government departments have told their civilian employees that they’ll have to take unpaid furloughs if it isn’t averted. Panetta and Dempsey have warned that the cuts would devastate the Pentagon and seriously threaten American national security. Obama and an array of Republican leaders say they want to find a way of getting rid of it. But no senator from either party has really asked Hagel about it. Read More
TPM’s Eric Lach dug around and found 20 states where lawmakers have proposed measures to put a stop to federal gun laws in recent weeks. Some would like to arrest federal officers who try to enforce the laws. Others simply want to make it very hard for the feds to do their jobs. So what’s behind the state-by-state movement? Here’s our report.
11:35 — Brutal civil war in Syria. A partial al-Qaeda takeover of northern Mali. Terror groups operating with impunity in Somalia and Yemen. The growing possibility of an Israeli strike on Iraq. You get the idea. The Obama administration is facing incredibly complicated national security challenges around the globe. As defense secretary, Chuck Hagel would help shape how the U.S. should try to handle them. But Republican senators like Jeff Sessions aren’t really asking about any of those current challenges. Read More